Electrical apparatuses, such as mobile phones for instance, include electrical connectors, which are configured to receive end portions of charging cables to sink power from power supplies. Alternatively, an electrical connector may also enable a respective electrical apparatus to assume the role of a source of power to other electrical apparatuses. For example, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) based electrical connector of a mobile phone may enable the mobile phone to supply power to a USB flash drive when the USB flash drive is connected to the USB based electrical connector of the mobile phone.
In some example scenarios, an electrical connector may undergo overheating during a current sinking or a current sourcing operation, if the electrical connector is damaged and/or a short circuit between charging voltage and ground is caused, for example, due to accumulated dirt in the electrical connector. Typically, device chargers include short circuit protection, however, even few ohms of short circuit before the short circuit protection is triggered may cause overheating of the electrical connector. The overheating of the electrical connector could melt the plastic material around the electrical connector and, in some scenarios, the electrical apparatus may also be damaged. The overheating of the electrical connector, in addition to ruining a user experience of using the electrical apparatus, may also be a potential safety hazard for the user.
The embodiments described below are not limited to implementations, which solve any or all of the disadvantages of known devices.